[Muslim men pray toward Mecca, Delhi at Jami’ Masjid, India]

Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White outlines a dramatic portrait of Muslim worshippers in prayerful mode and communal piety at the iconic seventeenth-century Jami (or Jama) Masjid (mosque) built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan at the cusp of India’s violent independence and Partition.

The Delhi mosque can accommodate teeming numbers of the devout, who have positioned themselves neatly over white sheets. Some of the congregation’s members surpass its borders, and a few receive shade. Distracted and restless children and a few other unknown figures are the only ones who do not join in the prayers. The architectural resplendence of the mosque is not shown here, except for a few minor arches, indicating that the main subject is its devotees. It is a powerful rendition of pious Muslims before the painful moments which will fracture the subcontinent. Partition propelled a mass migration of Muslims to the newly created nation of Pakistan, while Hindu and other religious refugees moved from there to India. Tension and violence between Muslims and Hindus has continued over the decades since Partition. Even today, Muslims praying in public in India have faced violence, with their mosques torn down, and their socioeconomic and cultural status diminished.

—Ayesha Matthan, PhD candidate